AirTouch Communications Inc. said there are several reasons why it is able to launch a Code Division Multiple Access system commercially in Korea, but it hesitates to deploy the CDMA network it has built in Los Angeles.
Shinsegi Telecomm Inc. was up against a deadline set by the Korean government, said AirTouch spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg. AirTouch holds 10.7 percent of Shinsegi.
AirTouch also said Shinsegi has been anxious to compete with the 12-year-old analog operation of Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corp., which claims 1.8 million customers.
“Since our competitor has such a significant head start, we were very motivated to get our system up and running,” Rosenberg said.
Meanwhile, AirTouch continues to “sectorize” and otherwise beef up its near-capacity analog system in Los Angeles while it adjusts the CDMA system it built there last year. About 200 sites have been constructed. AirTouch originally hoped to have CDMA service in Los Angeles commercially available by early fall 1995, but the system didn’t meet AirTouch’s expectations. The company won’t give another launch deadline.
“We don’t feel under any immediate time pressure in LA,” Rosenberg said last week. “We’re still not satisfied with the call quality and dropped call rates and want to optimize it.” That has been the company’s oft-repeated explanation.
When it does launch commercial CDMA, AirTouch intends to first offer it to high-use customers.
